1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a portable blood treatment manifold assembly. More, particularly, the present disclosure relates to a portable blood treatment manifold assembly for leukoreduction and oxygen and/or carbon dioxide depletion of blood in preparation for blood storage and/or transfusion to a recipient.
2. Background of the Art
The supplies of liquid blood in are currently limited by storage systems used in conventional blood storage practice. Using current systems, stored blood expires after about 42 days of refrigerated storage at a temperature above freezing (i.e. 1-6° C.) as packed blood cell preparations. Red blood cells (RBCs) may be concentrated from whole blood with separation of the liquid blood component (plasma). Expired blood cannot be used and is discarded.
There are periodic shortages of blood that occur due to donation fluctuation, emergencies and other factors. The logistics of blood supply and distribution impact the military, especially during times of combat and remote hospitals or medical facilities making blood processing or transfusions very difficult. Accordingly, there is a need to be able to rapidly prepare RBCs for storage or for transfusions in remote locations.
Storage of frozen blood is known in the art but such frozen blood has limitations. For a number of years, frozen blood has been used by blood banks and the military for certain high-demand and rare types of blood. However, frozen blood is difficult to handle. It must be thawed which makes it impractical for emergency situations. Once blood is thawed, it must be used within 24 hours. U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,713 to Serebrennikov is directed to a method of storing blood at temperatures below 0° C.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,318 to Hamasaki et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,786 to Sasakawa et al. are directed to additive solutions for blood preservation and activation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,794 to Bitensky et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,396 to Bitensky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,764 are directed to the storage of red blood cells under oxygen-depleted conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,151 to Bitensky et al is directed to blood storage additive solutions.
Additive solutions for blood preservation and activation are known in the art. For example, Rejuvesol (available from enCyte Corp., Braintree, Mass.) is add to blood after cold storage (i.e., 4° C.) just prior to transfusion or prior to freezing (i.e., at −80° C. with glycerol) for extended storage. U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,987 to Hess et al. is directed to additive solutions for the refrigerated storage of human red blood cells.
In light of current technology, there is a need for a portable and cost effective apparatus and methodology for the preparation of RBCs that removes leukocytes and oxygen and/or carbon dioxide in advance of transfusion or in preparation for anaerobic storage.